News, views, and items of interest on IBM's Db2 database management system and mainframes.

Sunday, January 05, 2014

DBA Rules of Thumb - Part 9 (Call on Others for Help When Needed)

Use All of the Resources at Your Disposal

Remember that you do not have to do everything yourself.
Use the resources at your disposal. We have talked about some of those
resources, such as articles and books, Web sites and scripts, user groups and
conferences. But there are others.

Do not continue to struggle with problems when you are completely
stumped. Some DBAs harbor the notion that they have to resolve every issue
themselves in order to be successful. Sometimes you just need to know where to
go to get help to solve the problem. Use the DBMS vendor’s technical support,
as well as the technical support line of your DBA tool vendors. Consult
internal resources for areas where you have limited experience, such as network
specialists for network and connectivity problems, system administrators for
operating system and system software problems, and security administrators for
authorization and protection issues.

As a DBA you are sometimes thought of as "knowing everything" (or worse a know-it-all), but it is far more important to know where to go to get help to solve problems than it is to try to know everything there is to know. Let's face it... it is just not possible to know everything about database systems and making them work with all types of applications and users these days.

When you go to user groups, build a network of DBA colleagues
whom you can contact for assistance. Many times others have already encountered
and solved the problem that vexes you. A network of DBAs to call on can be an
invaluable resource (and no one at your company even needs to know that you called for outside help).

Finally, be sure to
understand the resources available from your DBMS vendors. DBMS vendors offer
their customers access to a tremendous amount of useful information. All of the
DBMS vendors offer software support on their Web sites. Many of them provide a
database that users can search to find answers to database problems. IBM
customers can use IBMLink,[1] and both Oracle and Microsoft offer a searchable
database in the support section of their Web sites. Some DBAs claim to be able
to solve 95 percent or more of their problems by researching online databases.
These resources can shrink the amount of time required to fix problems, especially
if your DBMS vendor has a reputation of “taking forever” to respond to issues.

Of course, every DBA should also be equipped with the DBMS vendor’s
technical support phone number for those tough-to-solve problems. Some support
is offered on a pay-per-call basis, whereas other times there is a prepaid
support contract. Be sure you know how your company pays for support before
calling the DBMS vendor. Failure to know this can result in your incurring
significant support charges.

[1].IBMLink is a proprietary network that IBM opens up
only to its customers.